Italy’s retail sales were flat month-on-month in April 2026, below market expectations of a 0.2% rise and slowing from a 0.8% increase in the previous month. Sales growth eased for food products (0.2% vs 0.9% in March), while sales of non-food products declined (-0.2% vs 0.7%). On an annual basis, retail sales grew by 1.6% in April, easing from an upwardly revised eleven-month high of 3.8% in the previous month, weighed by slower sales of both food (0.6% vs 4.3%) and non-food products (2.6% vs 3.3%). Among non-food items, sales increased across almost all product groups except for games, toys, sports, and camping (-0.8%), while the largest gain was recorded in pharmaceutical products (5.2%). The value of retail sales rose sharply for e-commerce (8.4%) and small retail outlets (2.3%), while increases were more modest for out-of-store trade (1.3%) and large-scale distribution (0.7%).